We had a slow morning and got up late (unintentionally) - we must have only just made it to breakfast in time.
Back in our room, we got our stuff together and wandered out again to the jetty, nabbing a couple of deck chairs. There was virtually no one else there at that time of day.
We took our snorkelling gear to the end, and kitted up. The ladder wasn't terribly comfortable, but we got in to the lovely warm water. The first sensation I remember was being nibbled by the fish. How rude! Once in with my fins on, they left me alone, but they were extremely tame, and were quite happy to swim straight past my face. It took a while to get used to. These weren't small fish, either - there were masses of quite large sergeant major fish.
Other fish we spotted were black/white/yellow angels lurking near the bottom, absolutely beautiful rainbow parrot fish (which, when viewed from above, really do look like parrots), some interesting spotty brown fish with pink extremities, and others I can't remember or identify. There really were a lot of fish, and it was an absolutely beautiful place to go.
Once out and showered, I had a quick sunbathe, and then we took half an hour to relax with a soft drink by the bar before heading back to the room. We decided to go to the restaurant for lunch - Christian ordered a club sandwich and I ordered a fish burger. The fish burger was good, and tasty, but Christian's club sandwich was enormous and really not appetising. He picked at it, and feeling a bit unwell, went back to the room while I finished mine and paid the bill. I had a watermelon juice as well, which was absolutely delicious.
We rested for much of the afternoon, probably watching some TV. I had a wander up to see what the gym was like (it was good - I intended to do some running on the treadmill and maybe do a class if Christian wasn't up to activities). I also had a little look at the Italian restaurant.
Then around 5pm, I went for a walk into to Patong to buy water, paracetamol, and a beach wrap, while Christian had a sleep. It didn't take long to get into town at all. I turned right at the first major street, which was an exercise in itself - don't expect the drivers to stop at pedestrian crossings - they won't! I found a chemist quick quickly, and bought a large bottle of paracetamol for not very much from a nice lady who spoke good English. I kept going along that road, and found a market. It probably wasn't the one that Unn had recommended, but there were a few nice beach wraps, and I got one for 350 baht (after offending a stall holder by offering too little. I looked for t-shirts for Christian, but failed to find anything suitable. Lastly, I found a 'family mart' supermarket, and bought water, chocolate, and Pringles.
At the end of the street, I expected to find the shopping centre, but couldn't see it anywhere (turns out I hadn't walked far enough up the strip by a long way), so turned back to the strip, and headed north. I was disappointed to find a McDonalds and KFC and a Boots, and other various high street establishments (though the McDonalds was amusing because the Ronald McDonald statue had his hands together in gratitude).
After a while, and failing to find Bangla Road (where Unn assured us we'd find 'lady boys' in the evening), I turned back, and walked along the beach, dodging scooter riders on the footpath, and watching the parasailing. I decided I didn't want to do parasailing, mostly because the little man who assists you to lift off pulls himself up into the rigging and just sits on it for the duration of the ride. Looks really dangerous, but they achieve it quite gracefully. It was very interesting.
I got back to the room at about 6.30 to find Christian still in bed. We took it easy and ordered a room service dinner - I had a delicious pad thai, wrapped in latticed egg, and Christian had something that was supposed to be quite light (but wasn't).
We probably watched TV and had an early night.
Back in our room, we got our stuff together and wandered out again to the jetty, nabbing a couple of deck chairs. There was virtually no one else there at that time of day.
We took our snorkelling gear to the end, and kitted up. The ladder wasn't terribly comfortable, but we got in to the lovely warm water. The first sensation I remember was being nibbled by the fish. How rude! Once in with my fins on, they left me alone, but they were extremely tame, and were quite happy to swim straight past my face. It took a while to get used to. These weren't small fish, either - there were masses of quite large sergeant major fish.
Other fish we spotted were black/white/yellow angels lurking near the bottom, absolutely beautiful rainbow parrot fish (which, when viewed from above, really do look like parrots), some interesting spotty brown fish with pink extremities, and others I can't remember or identify. There really were a lot of fish, and it was an absolutely beautiful place to go.
Once out and showered, I had a quick sunbathe, and then we took half an hour to relax with a soft drink by the bar before heading back to the room. We decided to go to the restaurant for lunch - Christian ordered a club sandwich and I ordered a fish burger. The fish burger was good, and tasty, but Christian's club sandwich was enormous and really not appetising. He picked at it, and feeling a bit unwell, went back to the room while I finished mine and paid the bill. I had a watermelon juice as well, which was absolutely delicious.
We rested for much of the afternoon, probably watching some TV. I had a wander up to see what the gym was like (it was good - I intended to do some running on the treadmill and maybe do a class if Christian wasn't up to activities). I also had a little look at the Italian restaurant.
Then around 5pm, I went for a walk into to Patong to buy water, paracetamol, and a beach wrap, while Christian had a sleep. It didn't take long to get into town at all. I turned right at the first major street, which was an exercise in itself - don't expect the drivers to stop at pedestrian crossings - they won't! I found a chemist quick quickly, and bought a large bottle of paracetamol for not very much from a nice lady who spoke good English. I kept going along that road, and found a market. It probably wasn't the one that Unn had recommended, but there were a few nice beach wraps, and I got one for 350 baht (after offending a stall holder by offering too little. I looked for t-shirts for Christian, but failed to find anything suitable. Lastly, I found a 'family mart' supermarket, and bought water, chocolate, and Pringles.
At the end of the street, I expected to find the shopping centre, but couldn't see it anywhere (turns out I hadn't walked far enough up the strip by a long way), so turned back to the strip, and headed north. I was disappointed to find a McDonalds and KFC and a Boots, and other various high street establishments (though the McDonalds was amusing because the Ronald McDonald statue had his hands together in gratitude).
After a while, and failing to find Bangla Road (where Unn assured us we'd find 'lady boys' in the evening), I turned back, and walked along the beach, dodging scooter riders on the footpath, and watching the parasailing. I decided I didn't want to do parasailing, mostly because the little man who assists you to lift off pulls himself up into the rigging and just sits on it for the duration of the ride. Looks really dangerous, but they achieve it quite gracefully. It was very interesting.
I got back to the room at about 6.30 to find Christian still in bed. We took it easy and ordered a room service dinner - I had a delicious pad thai, wrapped in latticed egg, and Christian had something that was supposed to be quite light (but wasn't).
We probably watched TV and had an early night.
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